


a Merlin ficlet, Arthur's POV

by jadelennox



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Blank Verse Blog Week, Gen, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-23
Updated: 2009-04-23
Packaged: 2017-10-15 23:59:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/166238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadelennox/pseuds/jadelennox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Arthur's king, there'll be another way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a Merlin ficlet, Arthur's POV

**Author's Note:**

> [](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/)  
>  This work by jadelennox is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/).

  
  
When he was young, he thought they were best friends:  
His dad and Gaius. Probably they shared  
Their toys, he thought, like him and Kai. (This was  
Before Kai left, before Morgana came.)

Fifteen years old and sex-obsessed, he knew  
The truth: his dad and Gaius, lovers. Gross,  
But he supposed that even old blokes liked  
To _do_ it. Someone had to sleep with them;  
It might as well be one another, true?

Now he's a man, now he's a _prince_ , and his  
Naïveté amuses him. Nor friends  
Nor lovers justify the closeness twixt  
The ruler and his man. As if the king  
Would have a friendship that he didn't use to help  
The kingdom (or himself). No, Uther' s not  
That simple. Gaius's something more to him.

This morning Arthur knows he's realized what  
It is, that _something more_. When Merlin blushed  
And stammered, wary, laying out his clothes,  
With no clear cause - 'til Arthur heard the sound  
Come through his window and recalled today's  
Two executions. Meaty thumps evoke  
The witches sentenced and beheaded for  
Their sale of healing potions in the town.  
And Arthur thinks, Of course. If Gaius is  
His father's sorcerer, that would explain  
The secrets and the hiding, Merlin's fear,  
And oh-so-many magic-seeming cures.

Oh. Suddenly he's furious. He wants  
To seek out Uther, shake him like a dog.  
Hypocrisy enrages Arthur. If  
All magic is the evil he's been taught,  
The Kingdom shouldn't touch it. If, instead  
It can be used for good, then why the axe  
For women selling physics? Chivalry  
Is more than just a word to Arthur. Not  
A mere linguistic quirk adopted from  
A misplaced Gaul on Britain's shores when Rome  
Had gone. Nor Uther's callous set of rules,  
Another way to manage petty lords,  
Like fostering the heirs or taxing crops.

For Arthur, chivalry's a way of life,  
The air he breathes, the turtle's back on which  
The earth is safely carried through the sky.  
Now Uther's double standard has destroyed  
Those pillars, knocked the breath from Arthur's lungs.  
And Gaius -- Gaius played along. It's true  
If Gaius has real magic, Uther's game  
Was all that kept him breathing. Arthur thinks,  
However, given such a choice as this,  
That Merlin (were he magic) wouldn't choose  
The hiding and the lies as Gaius has.

When Arthur's king, there'll be another way.


End file.
